


Johnny's first hunt

by TFALokiwriter



Series: Jonathan Harker's first hunt as a vampire [2]
Category: Dracula (TV 2020)
Genre: 2020's, A hint of a hate to love story in his first hunt, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dracula and Jonathan Harker fight, Dracula puts salt over fresh wounds verbally, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Post-Coronavirus, Romantic Gestures, Vampire Jonathan Harker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25640911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: Dracula cared for the man and dearly enjoyed the fun that his currently furious bride was giving him.
Relationships: Dracula/Jonathan Harker
Series: Jonathan Harker's first hunt as a vampire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1865653
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Johnny's first hunt

"Johnny, it is time that we take the training wheels off and teach you how to hunt." This announcement drew Jonathan's surprise as he looked up from the novel as the older vampire flipped the switch turning the heater off, dimmed the lights, facing the direction of the younger man as he added, "Properly."

"What makes this any improper?" Jonathan asked.

"I have drained people's blood with machines to get you used to drinking it on a daily basis." Dracula replied.

Jonathan nodded.

"I see."

"And fortunately, now that you're recovered, we may do the hunt for this year."

"What year is it, Dracula?"

"Before I had seen you, right when I had awakened, it had been one hundred thirty-three years." Then Dracula smiled upon the younger man. "Now?" his smile turned into a grin, his k-nines apparent, the smile that Jonathan hated. "It has been one hundred thirty-four years since we met."

Jonathan performed the math, _Eighteen ninety-seven plus one hundred and thirty-four-_ -

"2021?" Jonathan replied.

"Yes." Dracula nodded.

"That. . . " Jonathan held the word. He outlived his love. The love of his life and it shattered him. It became the more apparent that he had spent roughly a year in the company of the man that had sealed him up in his tomb and left to rot in pain for a eternity. No, not a man. A monster. "A long time."

"Yes, it is."

"I have been meaning to ask, Count Dracula." Jonathan replied. "Where have you been for the last hundred years?"

The count's brows raised at once as he prepared to enter the passageway leading down to the lower section of the castle then turned toward Jonathan.

"In a box at the bottom of the ocean while you were completely at bliss in pain." Dracula replied.

"You weren't hurt as I were!" Jonathan roared as he popped up to his feet. "You should have killed me the first time!"

"I _was_ hurt." Dracula pointed out. "And I did kill you."

"You should have killed me; harder." Jonathan glared.

"But, I left you in my tomb. All alone, unseen by prying eyes, just in your pain." Dracula reminded the younger vampire, "Least you weren't humiliated, prodded around, experimented, and tested on." his voice became a automatic razor sharp edge as the younger vampire scowled. "I don't know why you didn't heal on my soil."

"That's because Translyvania isn't where I was born." Jonathan seethed. "They should have explored the castle." Jonathan was angry as he glared with accusation toward the vampire. "Did you cast a spell on it?"

"No, I didn't." Dracula said. "The way that you were groaning---you might have scared away those who dared."

"Why did you put me in your tomb, again?"

"I wanted to see what would happen after killing the undead. . . " Jonathan glared, icy, toward Dracula. "Someone who came back to life such as you isn't very often in my experiments."

Jonathan was skeptical by that reply from the older vampire.

"I can see why." Jonathan replied.

"You are the most fantastic surprise I have ever come to lay eyes on in my long life."

Dracula approached the younger man then stroked along the younger man's chin, apologetically, but affectionately with care.

"We could have spent a hundred years developing a rapport if I hadn't-" Dracula withdrew his hand from Jonathan's chin as he cut himself off quite regretful as though he dared not to finish the conversation on a sad note. Dracula's look of regret was replaced by a smile upon the younger vampire. "Good night."

It was a glimmer of humanity from Dracula, not that he had shown any in betraying Jonathan and letting him live, that stood out in the way that most unusual way things did stand out. The count was more of a mystery than what Jonathan had given him credit to. A strange piece of human quality caused the man to wonder if it were part of Dracula's personal qualities or had been part of his former feast.

All that Jonathan knew was that it was out of the ordinary to be genuine from Dracula.

It simply wasn't a part of him.

* * *

Jonathan had very little to pack, or so he thought. He came across a large parcel set alongside his coffin that read, 'Ancestry, Connections to Mina Harker, copies mailed by Jonathan Minervus Harker. You're welcome, Johnny.' Jonathan stared at the letter that had a strange symbol on the side that featured a 'c' and a ':' much to his confusion. _Who is Mina?_ He squinted at the text, _is this his calling card? I don't recall him adding that sign in his letter._ He lowered the note to the side then carefully opened it until only a box was revealed with bright white paper and inside of yellow folders.

He took out the papers finding only photographs and it all came back to Jonathan at once of his beloved Mina. There were hundreds of them featuring her and him, some taken by bystanders, many that were taken with their expressed consent and money, and the rest featured Mina without him. He watched her life play out in hundreds of photographs, being questioned for murder at the convent, being released, remarrying, having children, establishing the foundation that was built to defeat the monster that had taken him away from her, living her life, and various photographs of her at the train station.

His hand trembled.

"Mina."

The last photograph showed Mina resting in a wheelchair, smiling, waving at the camera operator covered in head to toe in wrinkles but her facial features stood out against the many lines. There was a look in her eye that was quite happy and full of stories. These were stories that he were left out of. Tears came down his skin looking at the love of his life and rage consumed him. The last photograph crumbled in his hands then he dropped it then fell down to his knees and smacked his fist against the floor repeatedly until he were howling in grief.

Jonathan's roar echoed as he decided how to best spend the next leg of his eternity. 

He wrapped his arms along his chest, hunched over, sobbing with a tremble in the circular room.

All that needed to be done was get under his skin, cause Dracula to lower his guard, then flee from his company.

Right now, that was seemingly impossible with the feelings that were coursing through Jonathan.

* * *

It's a hour after the moment of anguish that he comes to the entrance of the building spotting Dracula standing in the sunlight with his hands in his pockets, his head lifted up, bathing in the sunlight. It was all so wrong. Jonathan recalled vividly how he hissed withdrawing into the shadows before attempting to end his existence as the undead, how cowardly, how frightened, and vulnerable that he were. His fingers clenched against his palm of his hands.

Jonathan charged after Dracula knocking him down then punched him repeatedly at the face. Dracula flipped him over, clenching into the man's shirt, with a smirk then proceeded to feel Jonathan's thigh. Jonathan growled, delivering a sharp blow to Dracula's lower area causing him to make a quite comical fact, his legs crossing, causing him to tip over. Jonathan promptly began to beat the man up for several minutes at a time until Dracula yanked the man by the ankle causing him to fall down landing to his side.

Jonathan hissed then charged at Dracula, pausing above him, and proceeded to attack the older vampire.

Dracula caught him by the wrists then flipped him over on to his back and purred once above the young man.

"Johnny," Dracula cooed then began to purr. "You are already making this trip a little more fun than anticipated."

"Why don't you just DIE!"

Dracula looked upon him, softly, but affectionately.

"The desire to have fun running amok in this world." Dracula confessed then added. "With my newly made friend."

"I will never be your friend!" Jonathan shrieked.

Dracula's weight pinned him down with one hand as he stroked the side of the younger vampire's face.

"You don't have to be my friend; we're only vampires with benefits. Strictly." his long finger nail traced along the man's cheek forming a perfect circle. "Since you are unwilling to necessary fulfill the functions as my bride for the time being. . ."

Dracula smiled upon Jonathan.

"I will wait for you, Johnny." Dracula finished.

Dracula withdrew from Jonathan then made his way to the long vehicle as Jonathan grunted getting up to his feet.

"I will never be over outliving my wife." Jonathan vowed.

Dracula opened the side door revealing a crowded vehicle inside.

"I am taking a ride share." Dracula closed the door on the people. "I will take the front end, you can take the other end, it's full of actresses that wish to be part of a horror production and think they are rehearsing with a professional actor." Dracula's right hand fluttered toward his chest with dramatics. "And I am just going to choose one person."

"You mean you're going to make a actress with a future ahead of her have none?"

"What would you have me do?" Dracula asked. "Go to the ferry this way?"

"Ask her to come back and stake her after we get back." Jonathan replied.

"Then you'll have to do the staking, Johnny." Dracula replied. "I don't really care for the undead. They aren't as fun to play with."

"Is that how you nabbed the others in this new century?" Jonathan asked as he glared back at the count. "Luring them out with theater productions?"

Dracula went to the other end then opened the door and faced Jonathan's direction then took out his handkerchief and dabbed away the blood on his facial features.

"No." Was the reply from the vampire. "I used Tinder."

"You are disgusting, Count Dracula." Jonathan said.

Dracula smiled then opened the door and ducked in to the limo, "Hello, hello, my ladies, which one of you would like to rehearse for your vampire scene? Only one at a time!"

Jonathan's hands rolled into a fist riled with hate as the door closed beside Dracula.

* * *

The ride to the next stop is uneventful, save for watching Dracula sinking his teeth into the side of the neck of his latest victim. The actresses laugh and laugh, applauding for the demise of their friend without even being aware that he is really biting into her neck and drinking from her, Jonathan paled watching this event transpire then watched her slunk in the seat as Dracula sets his arms along the shoulders of the women beside him. He laughed, his back against the edge of the limo, quite relaxed while Jonathan blended in among the actresses as he declined their offers of various drinks. In the matter of a few hours Jonathan watched the vampire's wounds heal quickly.

He watched Dracula remain surrounded by women quite pleased for the duration of the ride going over bumps in the road and the sound of giggling echoed when Dracula laughed, broadly, at each bump enjoying the ride. Jonathan manages to get the woman's phone number and her home address for later purposes after Dracula proclaimed, "He is my assistant!" while the snack was slouched in the chair quite unwell. The limo comes to a abrupt pause while the truck with the boxes belonging to the two men came to a pause at the pumps.

"Sorry, kittens, this is where our rides splinter off." Dracula apologized.

"So soon?" Whined the women by Dracula's sides.

"Yes, so soon." Dracula said.

"And take my advice to heart, sink, close your eyes, and let go once you feel those plastic teeth against your necks." Dracula advised. "But, do it gently into the good night."

The victim is snoring way gently, head lowered, her skin quite pale.

"We will, thank you, Count Dracula!" The actresses screeched at once.

Jonathan wiggled out of the far more roomy but advanced version of the carriage that he had been allowed to be inside. He landed to his feet then shared one last look inside of the limo as Dracula went toward the rest stop as the truck ahead of them were paused in the tracks.

It was quite late out, a cozy night, that much Jonathan could tell as he admired the stars. He observed a star that flew into the air then burst into the form of a jelly fish above him. He stared in awe searching through his memories only coming back with the result of a victim's memory with a association to a falcon.

"Johnny!"

Jonathan shook his head.

"Come have a drink." Dracula took out a bottle and two glasses then poured the blood in. "It's for the long drive."

Jonathan tentatively approached Dracula joining his side then looked down toward the offered cup.

"I won't hunt and drain blood from people the way that you do." Jonathan said.

"What are you going to do?" Dracula asked.

"Blood banks." Jonathan said, simply. It was the first thing that sprung to mind. A artifact of a previous victim. Jonathan was quite disgusted.

"Johnny, this is a vital skill that prevents you from becoming a real beast. You've seen them; now imagine, worse than your skeletal self, mad, deranged, and---" he snapped his fingers. "And once a intelligent human gets in your cross hairs, you have no choice but to drain them in the most sloppy, desperate, and very blood wasting way possible." the vampire was cringing. "Licking what little blood that you can find left on the ground, the leaves, and anything in the environment."

The older vampire shuddered at the visual that he had painted. The words that Dracula had said, echoed loudly, only a hundred years ago, _"You are what you eat."_ in Jonathan's mind.

"I don't want you to turn out that way because blood can run out." Dracula revealed, quite reluctantly, grimacing. "And it almost did almost; recently."

Jonathan took a sip from the cup that he had taken and scowled.

"Count Dracula, this blood tastes different." Jonathan noted. "Is this lemonade?"

Dracula spun the contents of his glass then took a sip and grimaced.

"Oh, how sour." Dracula said looking down toward the glass. "Picked the wrong person to drain."

"Why does the blood taste so. . ." Jonathan started.

Dracula shifted his attention toward him.

"Tiring?" Dracula offered.

Jonathan frowned then shook his head.

"No." Jonathan denied. "Feisty."

The older vampire frowned.

"There was a virus called Coronvirus, or humans refer to it Covid-19, roaming the globe and it was awful. I kept track of the medical evolution of it. Since you are a vampire, it'll make every bit of you ache. . ." Dracula frowned, disturbed, but grimaced at the revelation. "and quite possibly drown in your own fluid if you were still human."

"Thankfully, I am not human in this century." Jonathan picked up the conversation as he held the underside of the cup and swayed it. "More-ever, I am very undead and shouldn't face the same complications, is that correct?"

"There must be a new strain running amok." then Dracula nodded in agreement. "And that is correct."

"So, we shouldn't be bothered by the illnesses of this era." Jonathan said, confidently.

Dracula's frown was the first red flag that caused Jonathan's smile to fade.

"Except for the fact that if you believe it can kill you then it will kill you and you don't want to drown in your own body, now do you?"

"No." Jonathan said. "There is no dignity being killed by my worst fear."

"Appears that I have to ask my future meals if they had a vaccination and who they had been around then tell them they possibly have been exposed." Then Dracula added. "If I taste the virus in their blood."

"You're playing detective."

"No, I am playing a medical blood professional trying to find out if leaving Romania was a wise choice after all to teach you how to hunt in familiar land."

"And the virus?"

"The humans are working against each strain that pops up." Dracula admired the setting sun from afar. "Time to sleep. Good night."

Dracula finished the contents of his glass then climbed into the vehicle and went down the narrow passageway. Jonathan watched Dracula's figure move in the dark, sliding the lid open, then vanish inside of the boy and the lid was set over his figure. Jonathan finished his cup then with care set it into the bag that Dracula had carelessly set aside and climbed up the platform into the craft. It was full of boxes that made the once roomy space so narrow among the stuffy feeling that there was surprisingly little room to move his figure in.

How Dracula negotiated through that tight space was only more than enough to show how supernatural that he were, not a man, but a beast that had to be slain.

He moved forward until he were where the man was resting then tucked the bag to the side along the edge of the rectangle box.

Jonathan went to his box, licked his lips, opened it, slid inside, and covered the top with the handles beneath the lid.

* * *

During the long ride, Jonathan dreams of what could have been. Getting to say good-bye to Mina, one last hug, one last form of affection; leaving for her sake. He dreams that Dracula is there, all in his horrid and ugliness, the beast that he were revealed in the external glory bathed in blood. One last clutch of her fingers as his hands let go departing from his wife leaving her to the convent.

Just one more chance to say, _"I love you."_

And not have asked to be murdered by Dracula so he could die as himself. 

Jonathan realized; he were angry at himself for losing one last precious moment with his wife.

* * *

The thought of Jonathan being at fault for not having proper closure with his wife awoke him; it wasn't the sun rays that poked into the vehicle, it wasn't the distinctive sense that someone were looming over him, it wasn't the sweet scent of fresh air that entered his box, or the sound of a lid being moved aside.

"Good morning, Johnny." Dracula's shadow looms over him.

"Put it back." Jonathan requested. "One more hour."

Dracula's brows raised in surprise then smiled.

"Your wish is my command." Dracula said. "I will return with a new bottle to occupy us for the rest of the trip. I appreciate you putting my traveling bag alongside the coffin, I love you, dearly."

"Can you just go." Jonathan said. "I am not in the mood to talk."

Dracula looked upon him, startled, then grinned.

"I nearly forgot to tell you something last year that happened after I used your skin as my mask."

"What?" Jonathan could only imagine a horror.

"Your wife found your body after fleeing me. I found her was hunched over it, frantically, holding it like it were a doll pleading for you to wake up." he grimaced, pitying, disturbed by his own recollection. "Poor kitten, she was quite not herself."

Jonathan could only stare.

"Last I heard from her was, ' _I love you, my Johnny Blue Eyes._ '." 

Jonathan heard her voice through him and it shook him.

"And then; she was what humans call these days traumatized after I took your body out of her arms and told her the undead is quite a dangerous infection." He looked down upon the younger vampire with a smirk. "It was a immediate and notable change. Quiet, trembling, a long stare." Then he smiled with a shrug. "But oh well, she got better."

Dracula closed the lid then whistled, merrily, exiting the truck blissfully happy as Jonathan wept to sleep.

* * *

The lid opened, again.

"We're in Hungary." the shadow over Jonathan announced.

Jonathan propped himself up.

"Hungary?" Jonathan asked.

Dracula continued to stare upon Jonathan with a twinkle in his eye as though he were frozen in a trance.

"Count Dracula." Jonathan repeated.

Dracula came to.

"Yes!" Dracula continued. "Hungary."

"Close the lid, Count Dracula." Jonathan's very being was pleading for food and his soul was screaming not to taint it even further with blood of a innocent.

Dracula frowned at first quite surprised by the comment.

"You're thirsty, are you not?" Dracula asked.

Jonathan puckered his lips, at first reluctant, then sighed as his shoulders fell.

"Really thirsty." Jonathan admitted.

Dracula whistled.

"You've slept for fifteen hours. . . Most impressive, Johnny." Dracula looked in admiration down toward the younger man. "In three hours and thirty minutes, we will be in Slovakia."

Jonathan squinted back at him.

"I don't believe you."

"You can believe me about time." Dracula took out his device then showed it to him.

"You could have changed it." Jonathan challenged, propping himself up, his hair long grayed as he cradled the side of his head and his hunger rose. "One time you told me that it were time to go to the night law classes when it was early morning!" 

"You laughed about it over dinner with our guests before we left." Dracula said.

"Because they were guests and I was thirsty." Jonathan said. And he still felt guilty about it.

"Now quite undead and deserved it." Dracula said then frowned as he leaned against the edge of the rectangle box. "Did you know those people were trolls who humiliated children for their artwork?"

"No, and they didn't mention any of it." he recalled, vividly, of how the couple treated their pets -- dragging them by the leash inside as the creatures barked their heads off -- and how thin they were in a worrisome way. First hints that they weren't the best people to allow to own pets. Said pets were fed bacon, beans, and chicken meat then taken to the nearest shelter after their owners met their ends by the end of the month. "Why would they mention that?"

"I took a drink from the nearest blood bank to get rid of humiliating children quality." Dracula admitted. "Children are not worth experimenting on. You see?"

"Your targets are adults." Jonathan confirmed then his glare sharpened back at the five hundred twenty-four year old vampire. "Other people; you get their targets and don't care about what happens to them at the end."

"Pretending to be a romantic partner?" Dracula continued the previous discussion. "You hate me with your being---but your acting is off the charts! It felt genuine."

"And that you weren't holding a baby when you clearly were." Jonathan reminded, sharply.

A glint went off in Dracula's eyes as he looked aside, fondly, at a long passed time then his features became marked with sorrow at the deceased experiment. Dracula turned the device back toward him, swiped his finger on the screen, until he were exactly where he wanted.

"Siri, what day is it today?" Dracula asked.

"Wednesday." A woman's robotic came came from the device.

"Drink," Dracula insisted. "Hurry."

Jonathan poured himself a full glass of blood. It tasted stranger than the other glass that he had earlier. It was as though he were drinking chocolate pudding with how it was falling into his mouth. He licked the inside of the cup with his tongue and fingers as Dracula looked on with a smile until the cup was clean to the bone. Dracula withdrew the cup from the hand of the younger man.

"That is more than enough to tide you over until we reach London." Dracula said.

"Is that chocolate batter from pudding cake?" Jonathan's question earned laughter from sweet delicious laughter from Dracula.

"No, it's blood batter from baking blood cake." Jonathan's jaw dropped with that reply. "Some of us vampires deliver experiments in food." the way that it was delivered sounded so casual and normal from the ancient vampire that Jonathan nearly choked on the clump of blood cake left in his throat. "Everyone calls me the 'weirdo' of the community when they are the ones who are weird." He set the cup into the bag. "I managed to save some after visiting my vampire friend Caretha and her bride Lewis De Tot-o."

Dracula held a hand out for Jonathan.

"Like to take the bus the rest of the way?"

Tentatively, Jonathan took Dracula's hand and the older vampire smiled.

"In different seats." Jonathan conditioned.

Jonathan stood up then brushed off the dirt off his clothing with one hand.

"I did drop that on you." Dracula admitted as he helped the younger men out of the box. "Whatever time you need to deal with your feelings; I will wait."

Jonathan closed the lid to the box then followed after a rushing Dracula to the exit of the truck and was handed on a mask. 

"Why do I need a mask?" Jonathan asked.

"Humans won't serve humans unless they're wearing masks these days." Dracula explained as he slid on his mask coming down the back end of the truck then turned around to face the younger vampire. "Fears of another Coronavirus outbreak justifies everyone wearing masks except for those who believe they infringe on their civil rights suffer the long term consequences or the consequences of being very dead."

* * *

The men spent five hours apart at the back of the bus waiting for the next stop to be reached. Jonathan took the time to observe the clothing that was worn by most of the civilians; they were different. They didn't don suits with vests and hats nor did the women wear dresses that he were familiar to. People wore bright or faded clothing that stood out to his eyes on ways that he hadn't thought possible.

Jonathan was pretty sure that in the passing hours that Dracula was feeding on people departing the bus so from time to time the young vampire got up to his feet then went after them. 

"Wait!"

The first bus route victim paused.

"Yes?"

"I am giving away some money for those who sit next to my partner."

"Husbands!" the not quite undead victim replied.

"Er---"

"How much money are we talking about?"

"Forty-five rons, or, where do you live?"

"Germany, I am visiting my granddaughter."

"It will be eighty thousand euros."

"Thank you! Thank you! That should pay for her tuition!"

"It will." Jonathan smiled. "If you start feeling unwell, I like you to visit my place of residence. I have the best medical equipment there."

The old man looked up in a moment of complete shock.

"Really?"

"Here is the coordinates." He flashed the phone in front of the older man and he wrote them down. "It's very important."

"Thank you." the old man smiled back at Jonathan.

And the old man departed.

* * *

When Jonathan turned away from the two victims in the two proceeding trips that he were awake, Dracula was waving back at him, gleefully, beckoning him to come over. Jonathan's mind was already boggled as it was; they hadn't reacted, screamed, or shrieked. The victims looked tired just as the rest of the people and quite unhappy even bearing masks. The whole world was tired by the looks of it in each bus.

It's another five hours after leaving Germany than to the boat as their belongings are taken abroad at Calais and Jonathan is being rushed by Dracula taking him by the hand bringing him down the role, down the stairs, and a direct pause alongside the compartment that is being emptied by a worker. Jonathan takes his hand out of Dracula's hand then folds his arms. 

"Why are you rushing me?" Jonathan asked, exasperated.

"The reason why I am doing this rush is, because one day; I won't be here."

Jonathan frowned, perplexed.

"But you told me earlier---"

"That I was immortal?" Dracula cut him off looking toward the younger man as he raised his brows.

"You did tell me that once I were better." Jonathan replied. "Said you would outlive me by several scores."

"Eons." Dracula corrected.

"The wording doesn't matter," Johnny said. "That is what you meant for me to infer."

"I have one firm belief of what can kill me. " Dracula said. "It's to be stricken down while being a. . ."

"A person?"

Dracula laughed then shook his head.

"No, Johnny." Dracula replied.

"A human being." Jonathan guessed.

"No." Dracula declined.

"A poor person?" Jonathan meekly suggested.

"No!" Dracula protested. "Never! Never in this lifetime!"

"I am out of options!" Jonathan threw his hands up into the air. "What is there to be afraid than being a decent vampire who acts as a genuine person?"

"No, Johnny!" Dracula shook his hand with a wave. "It's dying for others."

"That won't happen." Jonathan said. "You would never die for someone else."

Dracula smiled upon Jonathan with a shake of his head.

"You're a prized little sun, Johnny." Dracula took the shorter man by the chin, carefully handling him, then smirked while admiring Jonathan. "Far too precious to allow to become a supernova." his hand stroked the side of Jonathan's cheek. "You're the type of person to prevent being staked."

Dracula walked up the platform into the ferry as Jonathan stood there while a few minutes later their belongings were wheeled behind the older vampire.

* * *

Jonathan spends the last two hours of the trip sleeping in his coffin. It's the sound of the door opening, stumbling out, then crashing against a hard surface with fabric that he comes to and his hunger makes him blind, "Hungry."

His mind is at the edge of falling apart, he licks his lips, his body quite plagued by hunger that wasn't comparable to anything in the world. He had only experienced this once, a long time ago, trapped in a weakened state, by his own decision, by his own simple mistake condemning his wife to die without a proper farewell and to start by scratch creating a foundation all alone to kill the beast that had taken him away from her.

There was a purr that sounded familiar, the fleeting feeling of a touch, a chuckle, a set of fingers grasping him by the chin, "We can't let you become a rapid beast." Jonathan could practically hear the older vampire smile, affectionately, upon him. "Now, can we?"

Jonathan's response was a growl.

"I will have your meal waiting very shortly after we get you to the kill site."

He felt a hand on the center of his back as he were guided through a passageway. What form of passageway was beyond his knowledge as his feet slipped and he fell down to his knees slumping in the grip of the older man. Jonathan is only slightly aware that he is seated on a cot then the feeling of fingers stroking the side of his cheek quite affectionately as he whimpered. Dracula's purr is the sound that he hears from the beast himself that grow distant.

"Keep your hunger, Johnny. Keep it there."

That's the last that Jonathan hears for a long time except for the sound of a door closing. It's roughly thirty-three minutes as he struggles to contain himself as he claws into the wall leaving fine long scratch marks into the surface slowly sliding himself down. It's the sound of the door creaking open that draws Jonathan's attention then lunges tackling down the figure in the way.

"Johnny, Johnny! It's me! Don't bite me!" Dracula's voice comes through the mind numbing madness over running Jonathan. "Not just yet, my playful bride."

It hits Jonathan more than a bag of bricks could ever do as he realized how he were acting. He were acting just like the monster that he saw in Dracula and he were being a ravaging monster as he slunk off to the corner of the room then wrapped his arms around his legs. Dracula's footsteps are soft approaching the younger man. He is so hungry that the desire to eat is circulating on his mind over and over, on repeat, much like a broken record player.

"Johnny Blue Eyes. . . ." Dracula's voice came closer but even softer. "I understand how it feels to be mixed about this sort of thing."

Jonathan felt a hand on his knee.

"I died quite painfully." Dracula admitted. "Drunk, performing the act of dark magic, after my father died in battle."

Dracula was quiet.

"He was the man in the painting to the secret passageway." Dracula replied. "I loved him but. . . I couldn't go into battle with him. I didn't want to die. I ran away. That night, I was told by the sole surviving warrior of the results of the battle. I laughed, laughed, and drank with my friends that very night then we tried a spell, more of a ritual, to prevent being slain in my own home."

Dracula became quiet for a few somber moments.

"I forsake God, Heaven, and Earth for immortality."

"Feast?" Jonathan was able to say.

"By morning, nothing felt different." Dracula sighed. "But, I was on the run and the Turks were after me. I ran away from my wife and our children without taking them with me."

A coward that became a monster, Jonathan found that fitting with no pity for the man. Mina would have if he told his story.

"As each day passed, my health was deteriorating." Dracula resumed after a long pause. "I started to notice when my memory was waning, how deathly I looked, how my body was decomposing as if I were the host of Death itself."

"My husk traveled around, down to rags, walking much like a zombie; groaning, very dead."

Jonathan would have laughed at that if he were capable to.

"I was captured by the Turks, they threw me into a cell and left me be there. By the end of the month, I started to eat insects. . . then I began to drink the blood of rats once they crawled into my cell." Jonathan could imagine the grin that Dracula was wearing as he recounted the unusual beginnings of his reign of terror. Dracula had a long pause as a hand was placed on Jonathan's shoulder as though grimacing at the consequences. "You may be seeing where this going."

Jonathan growled.

"So, one of the jailers came in." Dracula paused. "No, it was _two_ of them." 

Dracula paused, fondly looking back, rubbing his chin.

"I broke their arms, easily, and feasted on them over their screams trapped in the same room with a cell door that had locked behind them." Dracula chuckled at his recollection. "If you had only seen the terror on their faces, Johnny! You would have laughed."

And Dracula was laughing at the amusement of the situation. His laughter was genuine looking back at a memory that belonged to him. And it told Jonathan plain as day that he would remember his mistake for the next eternity. Primal rage brewed within his frame at the revelation toward the vampire for choosing him to ruin. It was his fault that he were in the position that he were in now.

"The survivor was desperately trying to escape the room, so foolishly, and frantic that they flung the keys. I bit into their neck and drained them there faster than I do normally nowadays."

Curiosity, quickly? It sounded as if the process in his state would be done in less then ten minutes and the victim wouldn't suffer much but since it were coming from Dracula, it had to be taken as a horrific death -- screaming and flailing and all -- by a novice vampire.

"I tore the door open, made my escape with proper clothing, then made my way to a temporary shelter."

The vampire continued to relay the story, his voice now further, his steps quite silent as Jonathan heard the sound of fabric being dragged against the floor. It sounded as though the older vampire wore a cape; specifically, his cape. _My cape._

"I gathered intelligence processing what had became of me and what unusual characteristics had been given to me by the ceremony; my youth was back, my skin was healthy," Jonathan heard the sound of skin being patted that wasn't his own. "And I were perfectly intact to the way that this entire unfortunate episode began."

He heard feet shuffling.

"I realized what I had became; a vampir." Now, it sounded that the count was grinning then the sound of the cape dragging came closer to him. "Back then, the word vampire wasn't quite invented yet."

Jonathan felt Dracula pat on his knee.

"I returned home and became a beast reclaiming my birthplace." Dracula said. "The Turks ran away, my people were safe, and I were a Count."

 _I will end this monster's existence myself and become one to do that._ Jonathan vowed to himself. _And find a person willing to end the existence of a vampire_. Jonathan lifted his head up with a tremble observing the man were grinning upon him. The ethics were in jeopardy. Kill a beast that acts as if it had a soul and he would damned to burning in Hell for eternity.

Were the lives of thousands of people he may feast in his new lifetime be worth defeating Dracula? Was it going to be satisfying knowing all that he had done to spare the world of him by killing others? Would God forgive him for this humble task? Jonathan didn't know but it was for humanity. That belief itself could let him through the pearly gates of Heaven. God could forgive him.

"Thirsty." Jonathan said.

He can see Dracula's face, clear as day, the delighted grin, the fangs that are revealed, in a way that reeked of pride. 

"Right this way, Johnny." Dracula said.

Dracula guides Jonathan out of the room that is full of claw marks and the bedding is destroyed behind him as he spits out a feather.

"Oh Devil, you are that thirsty." Dracula said, a bit startled in a way that Jonathan liked and the older vampire _giggled_. 

And that made him freeze mid step. _No, no, no, I don't like hi--_

"Didn't think a vampire would be willing to eat their pillow." Dracula said. "This way, my sweet bride."

 _Maybe a part of me does but I don't like him with all my soul!_ Jonathan is guided out of the room then Dracula's grip on the center of his back and his hands are freed.

"I will never be your---" Jonathan turns in the direction of Dracula only to find that he were gone. "Bride."

Jonathan turns away from where he expected Dracula to be.

"Help, I just got lost." came a older man's voice from ahead. "I can't seem to find my way back."

Jonathan bared his fangs; and a monster was born over the screams of the older man who turned around and fled.

"DEMON!" The older man screeched. "DEEEEEEEEEEMOOOOOOOOOOON! HEEEEELLP!"

Jonathan slipped and fell then went after the older man's direction, going through the water, crossing to the other side of the sewers. His eyes are on the fleeing target lagging behind as dead weight. The dead meat is running for his life when he comes into the view of Dracula. Dracula was watching with a intense look in his eyes watching the scene unfold as the man screamed even louder. Dracula scooted a foot aside causing the man to fall down to his feet then be tackled by Jonathan.

Jonathan's fangs dug into the man and his figure pins the older man down as he screams and screams and screams over the smile of the older vampire.

All was well for the beginning of a very unique relationship. 

**The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Do I know why 2020 Dracula calls women kittens? No.


End file.
